From Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis
Congratulations to Icelandic voters who once again told the UK and Netherlands where to go...
Showing posts with label iceland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iceland. Show all posts
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Iceland Proves Ireland Did ‘Wrong Things’ Sacrificing Taxpayers
From Bloomberg
Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- On his second day as head of Iceland’s third-largest bank, Arni Tomasson faced a crisis: The firm he had been asked by regulators to run was out of cash.
It was Oct. 8, 2008, at the height of the global financial meltdown, and Iceland’s bank assets in the U.K. had been frozen, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its March issue. Customers flocked to branches of Tomasson’s Glitnir Banki hf to withdraw money, even though the government had guaranteed their deposits. By the end of the day, the vaults were empty, says Tomasson, recalling the drama two years later.
The only way Glitnir and other lenders could avoid a panic the next morning was to get more cash, which they were having trouble doing. A container of crisp kronur sat on the tarmac at Reykjavik’s airport awaiting payment, Tomasson says. The British company that printed the bills, De La Rue Plc, was demanding sterling, and the central bank couldn’t access its U.K. account.
“Everybody was panicked -- depositors, creditors, banks around the world,” Tomasson says. “The effort by all of us at the time was to make sure life could go on as normal.”
Tomasson, 55, got the cash he needed that night after the central bank managed to open an emergency line of credit with a European lender. Now, he’s sitting in an office in Reykjavik, handling about $24 billion of claims by creditors as life in Iceland’s capital returns to normal.
Unlike other nations, including the U.S. and Ireland, which injected billions of dollars of capital into their financial institutions to keep them afloat, Iceland placed its biggest lenders in receivership. It chose not to protect creditors of the country’s banks, whose assets had ballooned to $209 billion, 11 times gross domestic product.
Krona Devaluation
The crisis almost sank the country. The krona lost 58 percent of its value by the end of November 2008, inflation spiked to 19 percent in January 2009 and GDP contracted by 7 percent that year. Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde resigned after nationwide protests. With the economy projected to grow 3 percent this year, Iceland’s decision to let the banks fail is looking smart -- and may prove to be a model for others...
Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- On his second day as head of Iceland’s third-largest bank, Arni Tomasson faced a crisis: The firm he had been asked by regulators to run was out of cash.
It was Oct. 8, 2008, at the height of the global financial meltdown, and Iceland’s bank assets in the U.K. had been frozen, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its March issue. Customers flocked to branches of Tomasson’s Glitnir Banki hf to withdraw money, even though the government had guaranteed their deposits. By the end of the day, the vaults were empty, says Tomasson, recalling the drama two years later.
The only way Glitnir and other lenders could avoid a panic the next morning was to get more cash, which they were having trouble doing. A container of crisp kronur sat on the tarmac at Reykjavik’s airport awaiting payment, Tomasson says. The British company that printed the bills, De La Rue Plc, was demanding sterling, and the central bank couldn’t access its U.K. account.
“Everybody was panicked -- depositors, creditors, banks around the world,” Tomasson says. “The effort by all of us at the time was to make sure life could go on as normal.”
Tomasson, 55, got the cash he needed that night after the central bank managed to open an emergency line of credit with a European lender. Now, he’s sitting in an office in Reykjavik, handling about $24 billion of claims by creditors as life in Iceland’s capital returns to normal.
Unlike other nations, including the U.S. and Ireland, which injected billions of dollars of capital into their financial institutions to keep them afloat, Iceland placed its biggest lenders in receivership. It chose not to protect creditors of the country’s banks, whose assets had ballooned to $209 billion, 11 times gross domestic product.
Krona Devaluation
The crisis almost sank the country. The krona lost 58 percent of its value by the end of November 2008, inflation spiked to 19 percent in January 2009 and GDP contracted by 7 percent that year. Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde resigned after nationwide protests. With the economy projected to grow 3 percent this year, Iceland’s decision to let the banks fail is looking smart -- and may prove to be a model for others...
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Iceland exits recession
From The Guardian.
Iceland's decision two years ago to force bondholders to pay for the banking system's collapse appeared to pay off after official figures showed the country exited recession in the third quarter.
The Icelandic economy, which contracted for seven consecutive quarters until the summer, grew by 1.2% in the three months to the end of September...
Iceland's decision two years ago to force bondholders to pay for the banking system's collapse appeared to pay off after official figures showed the country exited recession in the third quarter.
The Icelandic economy, which contracted for seven consecutive quarters until the summer, grew by 1.2% in the three months to the end of September...
Iceland's Datacell Joins Fight On The Side Of Wikileaks, Prepares Law Suit
From The Hindu
WikiLeaks' payment processor to sue card companies
WikiLeaks’ payment processor says it is preparing to sue credit card companies Visa and MasterCard over their refusal to process donations to the secret-spilling website.
The statement by Iceland’s DataCell comes as Internet payment company PayPal says it will return the funds frozen in WikiLeaks’ account to the foundation that was fundraising for it.
It isn’t yet clear where or when such a lawsuit would be heard. DataCell CEO Andreas Fink told The Associated Press that he would seek to have his case heard in a court in London, where Visa Europe Ltd. is based.
Fink said in an e-mail that “it is simply ridiculous to think WikiLeaks has done anything criminal.” Visa and MasterCard have not immediately returned e-mails seeking comment.
WikiLeaks' payment processor to sue card companies
WikiLeaks’ payment processor says it is preparing to sue credit card companies Visa and MasterCard over their refusal to process donations to the secret-spilling website.
The statement by Iceland’s DataCell comes as Internet payment company PayPal says it will return the funds frozen in WikiLeaks’ account to the foundation that was fundraising for it.
It isn’t yet clear where or when such a lawsuit would be heard. DataCell CEO Andreas Fink told The Associated Press that he would seek to have his case heard in a court in London, where Visa Europe Ltd. is based.
Fink said in an e-mail that “it is simply ridiculous to think WikiLeaks has done anything criminal.” Visa and MasterCard have not immediately returned e-mails seeking comment.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
The Eye Of Mordor
Iceland Thinks US May Be Spying on Its Citizens
From Newser.
(NEWSER) – All five Nordic nations now suspect the US has been using its embassies to spy on their citizens: Iceland has joined Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland in launching a probe into whether American embassies acted illegally by carrying out surveillance of protesters without permission from national authorities, the BBC reports. Top prosecutors in the countries involved believe the embassies may have violated several laws.
From Newser.
(NEWSER) – All five Nordic nations now suspect the US has been using its embassies to spy on their citizens: Iceland has joined Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland in launching a probe into whether American embassies acted illegally by carrying out surveillance of protesters without permission from national authorities, the BBC reports. Top prosecutors in the countries involved believe the embassies may have violated several laws.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
In Some Countries Justice Still Exists...Icelandic Ex-PM Indicted For Role In FInancial Crisis
From Huffington Post.
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Iceland's former Prime Minister Geir Haarde has been referred to a special court in a move that could make him the first world leader to be charged in connection with the global financial crisis.
After a heated debate Tuesday, lawmakers voted 33-30 to refer charges to the court against Haarde for allegedly failing to prevent Iceland's 2008 financial crash – a crisis that sparked protests, toppled the government and brought the economy to a standstill by collapsing its currency.
Haarde faces up to two years in jail if found guilty. The court, which could dismiss the charges, has never before convened in Iceland's history. A hearing date has not yet been set...
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Iceland's former Prime Minister Geir Haarde has been referred to a special court in a move that could make him the first world leader to be charged in connection with the global financial crisis.
After a heated debate Tuesday, lawmakers voted 33-30 to refer charges to the court against Haarde for allegedly failing to prevent Iceland's 2008 financial crash – a crisis that sparked protests, toppled the government and brought the economy to a standstill by collapsing its currency.
Haarde faces up to two years in jail if found guilty. The court, which could dismiss the charges, has never before convened in Iceland's history. A hearing date has not yet been set...
Monday, June 21, 2010
Lieberman: Shut Down The Net Like China; Iceland: Freedom of Communication!
Iceland is passing resolutions to protect freedom of expression on the Internet. Obama and Lieberman would like to have a "kill switch."
It's not hard to see who is on the right side of this one. One more reason to leave the land of the morons. I've heard the flights to Iceland are cheap. Tempting.
The online freedom law passed in Iceland as you can read here. The vote was 50 in favor and zero against. Can you imagine how that vote would go down in our corrupt country?
Eventually every smart person will just leave the U.S. and only the brain dead will remain to eat burgers and watch football, kill civilians in wars or sit in prison.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Worst Still To Come With Icelandic Volcano?
From Reuters
The Icelandic volcano which grounded air traffic over Europe is spewing less ash, but continues to erupt, with strong tremors - creating a puzzle for scientists...
Note: For those of you who have an issue with flouridated water, you will like the last sentance: He said the main concern about the ash was high levels of fluoride, which could poison livestock.
The Icelandic volcano which grounded air traffic over Europe is spewing less ash, but continues to erupt, with strong tremors - creating a puzzle for scientists...
Note: For those of you who have an issue with flouridated water, you will like the last sentance: He said the main concern about the ash was high levels of fluoride, which could poison livestock.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Democracy Alive in Iceland: 93% Say No to the Bankers
“Ordinary people, farmers and fishermen, taxpayers, doctors, nurses, teachers, are being asked to shoulder through their taxes a burden that was created by irresponsible greedy bankers" said Icelandic President Olafur R. Grimsson.
They said no. Read more about it in an article from Bloomberg.
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